FACT CHECK: Did Russia Have ‘To Stop All Attacks’?

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

A video shared on Facebook claims Russia “had to stop all attacks” in Ukraine as its campaign continues.

Verdict: False

Russia has continued to attack Ukrainian forces across the frontlines, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.

Fact Check:

The U.S. is reportedly considering providing Ukraine weaponry to launch military operations in Crimea, a region that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, according to The New York Times. At the same time, the U.S. is reportedly finalizing plans to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, CNN reported.

The Facebook video, viewed more than 38,000 times, claims that the “Russian Army had to stop all attacks.” The Facebook post caption reads, “1 minute ago! The Russian army had to stop all attacks! Putin finally confessed!”

However, this claim is false. If the Russians had stopped attacks in Ukraine, media outlets would have covered it, yet none have. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has not reported on Russian troops stopping their attacks on Ukrainian positions.

The Ukrainian General Staff reported in its Jan. 20 update that the Russians attacked all across the Donbas and in the south.

“Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled attacks in the vicinities of Novoselivs’ke and Bilohorivka settlements (Luhansk oblast); Verkhn’okam’yans’ke, Krasnopolivka, Soledar, Krasna Hora, Paraskoviivka, Bakhmut, Ivanovs’ke, Diliivka, Vodyane, Mar’inka, Pobieda, and Novosilka (Donetsk oblast); and Mala Tokmachka and Stepove (Zaporizhzhia oblast),” reads part of the update.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a non-partisan think tank, also reported on Russian attacks in its Jan. 18 and 19 updates. (RELATED: Does This Video Show A Ukrainian Girl Confronting A Russian Soldier?)

“Russian sources claimed that Russian forces captured Klishchiivka amidst ongoing Russian offensive operations around Soledar, Bakhmut, and Avdiivka,” the ISW reported Jan. 19. “Russian sources claimed that Russian forces conducted localized offensive operations in Zaporizhia Oblast.”

Misinformation around the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is not new. Check Your Fact recently debunked a claim that Ukraine destroyed a Russian train carrying 1,000 troops.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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